Beauty
by L'echapper Belle
Summary: Over the years, they've learned to really see one another, but more importantly, to appreciate or maybe love? what others might describe as flaws. **Urahara x Yoruichi
1. Chapter 1

This is something that came to me while watching fanvids on Youtube.

**綺麗 ****Beauty**

It was strange when she actually thought about it, but she'd always thought of Kisuke as being beautiful. She'd never told him this of course because she rather imagined that depending on his mood, he'd either be really obnoxiously pleased and would tease her mercilessly for the confession, or he'd just be really annoyingly analytical with her words, picking them apart and analyzing them until they didn't mean anything.

Yoruichi could even imagine how that conversation would go: "Did you know, Yoruichi-san that the English word 'beautiful' is a derivative of 'beauty' which was first known as the Anglo-Norman/Old French _biaute_, which became the Medieval Latin _bellitas_, and finally the modern day Latin's _bellus, _in conjunction with the Germanic _-ful, _which means full of…_" _and then he'd proceed to rattle off words and phrases in several other languages until she lost her patience with him and walked away.

Despite his quirks and faults, there was something within him that made him special. She saw it the moment she'd first laid eyes on him. It wasn't in the way he spoke, walked or dressed; no it was far more profound than that. Whatever it was, it radiated from him so brightly, she never failed to be amazed by how many people missed it and were quick to dismiss her long time friend as being merely eccentric, at times a danger/annoyance to both man and shinigami alike, or more recently, as merely a perverted dandy.

And while she couldn't deny the grain of truth in each of these, Yoruichi also knew with absolute certainty that her Kisuke was a master in the arts of deception and used the fact that he was underestimated to his advantage. She hadn't made him her 3rd seat for nothing after all. While she'd never seen him cry-she touched wood as the thought crossed her mind, the very idea of it made her stomach tie up into knots-she knew he was haunted by the memories of the past just as she was. They'd been friends for so long that he didn't bother putting on an act around her; she could see through it just as easily as he could see through hers.

Decades back while drinking with friend/enemy Shiba Kuukaku, the slightly older woman had asked her in a voice slurred by way too much sake, what the Princess of the Tenshi Heisouban possibly saw in a man like Urahara Kisuke. Unnerved by the seriousness behind her drinking companion's eyes, Yoruichi had tossed back yet another glass of sake before answering. "In Kiskue I see the physical manifestation of my soul: light and dark constantly at war, along with a burning desire to save the world." She blinked in surprise at the words and burst out laughing, Kuukaku eventually joining in, making light of her words until they moved onto a safer topic.

As jumbled as her words had been back then, she'd said them from the bottom of her heart. Kisuke represented her soul in her mind-and the exiled Shihouin princess often wondered if that was the reason why she preferred to rely on him in battle as opposed to her own zanpaktou. He was no less an important part of her than her brain (and sometimes she scared herself by thinking she would function about as well without him as she would without it).

Yoruichi smiled faintly as she stretched in contentment in the afternoon sun, perched on a tree branch several feet away from the Urahara shouten or the closest thing they had to 'home' in the real world. It was silly in her mind to think of permanently settling down; home as far as she was concerned was wherever you felt free to be yourself and that had always been anywhere Kisuke was.

Still, as well as he knew her, Yoruichi wondered if he knew the reason why she up and disappeared for months and sometimes years at a time. Probably. Her best friend knew her better than she knew herself so he'd most likely figured it out before she ever set foot out of the door. It was a slightly embarrassing realization-that she could be so unaware of her own feelings-but it was also extremely comforting knowing that someone knew her that well. It just felt right in a indescribable way that that person was Kisuke.

As secretive as he could sometimes be, Yoruichi felt that she knew him. She knew the real reason why he started wearing that ridiculous getup once they'd finally got their bearings in the real world. She knew why he owned and operated that shady store of his and why he played the part of the care free idiot from time to time. He'd never volunteered the reason but then again, he didn't ever need to. She could read it on his face but more importantly, she just felt it instinctively in her gut.

His feelings of guilt and loss after the debacle in Soul Society had nearly overwhelmed him in the beginning despite all her best efforts to help him. He'd been reduced to a mere shadow of his former self…and it'd scared her more than any hollow ever could. His aura had become so heavy with a nearly palpable angst that started to affect her. Yoruichi tried to hide it from him, but he was able to see through her pretense and changed almost overnight into the Urahara Kisuke known by Ichigo and the others. It'd surprised her at first, but she eventually came to realize that this was his way of coping. Underneath the hat and behind the foppish fan, he was still the man she'd grown up with; the man she'd once sacrificed everything for-and would do so again if the occasion ever called for it-and the only one capable of sending her heart into her throat, putting butterflies in her stomach, and curling her toes in her shoes with merely a smile.

He would always be, in her mind, beautiful.

*****

End of chapter one! Now that you've read, won't you please review? The next chapter is still being written (having a teensy bit of trouble getting Kisuke's voice 100% to my satisfaction) but expect it to be much longer. This chapter's mainly to set up everything to follow.

Thanks for reading!

~L'echapper Belle


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thank you to all of you lovely reviewers! This chapter is dedicated to you.

**綺麗****Beauty: Chapter 2**

If asked to choose a word to describe his long time best friend, Kisuke would fail miserably. There were far too many words he felt were only _nearly_ suitable to describe her smile, her laugh, or the face she'd sometimes make when they would be sitting together in silence watching the sunset. He would touch her in an entirely innocent way--because he couldn't help himself sometimes--and she would turn to him, her eyes bright with the orange of the setting sun, and with some soft emotion seldom seen in the Shihouin princess, right before teasingly accusing him of having dirty thoughts (which was _usually_ untrue during those moments).

Yoruichi was…complicated and in all his years, he'd never met a more stubborn woman. Fortunately, they usually saw things eye to eye; otherwise the two would have wound up arguing much more often. Kisuke hated when they didn't get along because Yoruichi was the queen of giving the cold shoulder; though she was quick to put any hard feelings behind them once they made up.

She was seemingly afraid of nothing. He'd been with her on more occasions than he cared to remember where she ran into a fight outnumbered and unarmed, a devil may care smile on her face. He'd asked her about it one time out of curiosity and she'd blinked in surprise at the question before shrugging her shoulders and saying "I don't believe that I can lose, that's why I don't" she'd paused before smiling at him in a way that made him hold his breath "That and I have you with me." Kisuke found he rather liked the sound of that.

The only time he could remember Yoruichi being scared was right after their arrival in the living world. He'd been so caught up in his feelings of guilt that he'd come close to slipping into a deep depression. As his best friend, she'd picked up on it, though she said nothing to him. He was able to sense her fear for him though and it acted like a slap in the face. Urahara was able to pull himself out of the funk, at least enough that his aura didn't pollute hers. If Yoruichi took issue with the newly adapted dandified look that came along with the 'no longer depressed, banned from Soul Society Kisuke', she made no comment other than "nice hat".

He was lucky, he knew, to have a friend so extraordinary. She'd saved him from self doubt, from his own brilliance on more than one occasion, and from the cruelty of those that despised and envied him. She brushed it all off as nothing, or as what any other friend would do for another friend but he, of course, knew better.

She was beautiful both outside and in. Through all the many, many years of his friendship, she was relentlessly pursued by suitors that were eager to be close to royalty, or just be near her intoxicating beauty and talent. He'd teased her about it their third year one afternoon as they chatted in the busy courtyard between classes and she'd frowned at him. 'Don't you think I would get rid of them if I could?' she'd groused.

Inspired by gods only know what, Kisuke had wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply and possessively; Yoruichi didn't stop him, but she hadn't really reacted either. After a long moment he'd let her go, taking a step back so he wouldn't be tempted to taste her again. He'd forced a smile and said, "Maybe that will help," his breathing labored, his cheeks flushed. In that moment while kissing the shapely heiress, he'd come to the rather startling realization that he liked her as more than a friend, and had liked her from the moment he'd met her.

His best friend had merely stared at him, stunned, her left hand touching her lips a brief moment. "Maybe," she'd responded absently, her expression inscrutable, her voice breathy.

He was right, though whether it was due to their very public kiss in the courtyard, or because he all of a sudden found himself nearly glowering at the men who dared talk to Yoruichi was anyone's guess. Not that Yoruichi ever noticed; she seemed to think his genius status intimidated any of the would be seekers of her affection who assumed the two best friends were actually a couple since they spent so time together. She never mentioned his kissing her in the courtyard and studiously avoided making physical contact with him for three weeks following the incident and so he'd therefore assumed it was a lost cause to pursue anything further.

Their second kiss didn't take place until over a year later, after their graduation from the Shinigami Academy. The two were sparring, trying to realize Benihime's bankai when _it _happened. Yoruichi had gained the advantage and she was backing him into a corner without even drawing her zanpaktou when he'd felt a surge of rage. Yoruichi must have sensed the sudden shift in his aura because she'd hesitated a brief second, her eyes meeting his right before he'd lost consciousness. Kisuke would swear later that he heard the voice of Benihime in his head right before the world went red.

The next thing he remembered, he was standing with his chest heaving, his sword back in shikai form, his kimono stained with blood. A few feet before him lay Yoruichi, two pieces of her broken sword on the ground beside her, nearly motionless and bleeding profusely from a gaping hole in her chest. He'd cried out in dawning realization as he'd raced to her, discarding his sword on the way.

As he'd kneeled before her, he could see that her right arm was badly broken, her hair matted with blood, and her clothes torn. She'd been freezing cold to the touch and he hastily fashioned a tourniquet out of his own clothing, repeating, 'it's going to be okay' over and over.

She'd opened her eyes with some difficulty and looked right at him as he held her, sending a Hell butterfly to get Unohana. Yoruichi had smiled faintly as she'd said his name. 'You did it Kisuke. You…reached bankai.'

He'd stared at her in stunned silence, just barely quenching the urge to shake her and call her an idiot for even caring about that when her life was on the line.

She'd laughed then, and he knew that she was all too aware of what he was thinking. "It's not your fault," she'd assured him, wincing as he repositioned her so he could keep better pressure on the wound.

"Yes it is," he'd insisted, not able to look at her. "I'm sorry…so, so sorry, Yoruichi-san."

She was silent and still for so long that if he hadn't seen the ever slowing rise and fall of her chest, he would have been afraid she was dead. "Lean down Kisuke, I want to tell you something."

He'd complied promptly, partially hoping she was going to tell him off. Instead, she'd kissed him gently and sweetly, her lips cool against his own. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment after she ended it. "I'm not…going…to die," she managed before losing consciousness.

Still panicked, he'd nearly sobbed in relief when the (mostly) sweet natured healer had appeared.

Days later, when his best friend was well enough to be released from Unohana-sensei's vigilant care, he'd literally swept her off of her feet and spun her in a circle, unable to contain his excitement at finally being allowed to see her and not just hear about her progress from the 4th squad's captain. Yoruichi'd turned slightly green and so he'd put her down reluctantly, but was unable to keep himself from touching her. "You're back." he'd said needlessly.

The Shihouin heiress snorted. "I still have 6 more lives left Kisuke." Her expression softened as he touched her face hesitantly as if to reassure himself she was real. "Oy baka; I promised to stay by your side and I meant it. You'll have to do much worse to get rid of me for good. "

He'd flinched slightly at that, his guilt resurfacing yet again."Yoruichi-san I'm so sor—"

Yoruichi'd silenced him by kissing him, hesitantly, as if she was afraid she would hurt him. "No more apologies," she scolded him, her cheeks slightly flushed once she ended it, her voice husky with emotion.

It took him a few seconds to regain his senses and figure out exactly what his best friend was trying to tell him, but once he'd figured it out, he'd flashed her a mischievous grin. "Ah, thank you Yoruichi-san; now I won't have to apologize for what I'm about to do".

She'd opened her mouth to say something and that was when he'd kissed her with all of the want and possessiveness he'd been reigning in for over a year…and she'd kissed him back just as urgently, clinging to him desperately.

That was the very last day Yoruichi and Urahara considered each other as just friends.

*********

End of Chapter 2!

I'm not 100% thrilled with this chapter, but I think every writer/authoress in existence says that once they've finished something. I'd originally intended this to be a sweet little one shot, and it somehow became a chaptered fic. Then, I planned on only making _Beauty_ two chapters _at the most_, but it would seem I'm just not done with these characters yet! I know the chapters so far are really short, and I apologize. They'll get longer, I promise, especially when we get some actual Yoruhara present day interaction going!! Now that you've read, don't you think it's time you review? Heck yeah it is. Trust me, it really does help!

Thanks again for reading!

~L'echapper Belle


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